Sweet 16

Breaking down the field

Kentucky has received plenty of off-season attention since John Calipari arrived to start a run of three consecutive No. 1 recruiting classes. His dominance off the court is well chronicled, but how does it compare to the other programs remaining in the NCAA Tournament?
While Kentucky is at the top of the list as far as top recruits and NBA prospects, the Cats have plenty of company. Of the 16 teams still battling for the national championship, only Ohio is without a Top 100 recruit on its roster. The other 15 teams have at least two each. Similarly, Ohio and Louisville are the only two remaining teams that do not have a Top 100 NBA prospect. More than half of the remaining schools have at least two on the roster.
UK leads in both of those categories, but the Cats aren’t alone at the top. Kentucky and Florida each have eight Top 100 recruits, and North Carolina matches the Cats with six Top 100 NBA prospects.
Below you’ll find the total of Top 100 recruits and Top 100 NBA prospects for each school, as well as some observations and additional statistics. Keep scrolling for the list of players and rankings for each team, or click the logos above to skip directly to a specific school.
UK’s numbers are certainly impressive, but this should be a reminder that there are plenty of other talented teams standing in the Cats’ path to an eighth national championship.See the notes at the bottom of the page for more about the rankings referenced here.

Roster breakdown

Top 100 recruits

Kentucky

8

Florida

8

North Carolina

7

Ohio State

7

Baylor

6

Kansas

6

Marquette

5

Michigan State

5

Syracuse

5

Louisville

4

NC State

4

Xavier

3

Cincinnati

2

Indiana

2

Wisconsin

2

Ohio

0

Top 100 NBA prospects

Kentucky

6

North Carolina

6

Kansas

4

Baylor

2

Florida

2

Marquette

2

NC State

2

Ohio State

2

Syracuse

2

Cincinnati

1

Indiana

1

Michigan State

1

Wisconsin

1

Xavier

1

Louisville

0

Ohio

0

Burger boys

Kentucky has six McDonald’s All-Americans on its roster, but that’s not the highest total among the tournament’s remaining teams. North Carolina boasts seven McDonald’s selections — and the Tar Heels started the season with eight, before Dexter Strickland was lost for the year due to injury. Following the Tar Heels and Wildcats are Ohio State (5), Florida (4), Louisville (3), Michigan State (2) and Syracuse (2). Three more schools have one McDonald’s All-American, which means 10 of the 16 teams remaining have at least one on their roster.

Best of the best

Kentucky and Florida lead the way with eight Top 100 recruits apiece, but who has the most when you narrow down the talent pool? UK still leads the way with eight Top 50 recruits, followed by North Carolina (7), Ohio State (6) and Florida (5). The Tar Heels have an amazing seven Top 25 recruits. Kentucky has five in the category, and no other team has more than three. UK and North Carolina each have three Top 10 recruits, Florida and Baylor have two each, and Ohio State and Indiana have one apiece.

A peek at the future

Watch all eight games Thursday and Friday and you’re likely to see just about every lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft. According to DraftExpress.com, 10 of the top 11 prospects for 2012 are still playing in the tournament. The only exception is Connecticut center Andre Drummond, the No. 4 prospect in the country according to the website.

Familiarity pays off

Thirteen of the 16 coaches still going have been with their schools for at least four seasons (the span of a typical recruit). Only John Calipari, Xavier’s Chris Mack, and N.C. State’s Mark Gottfried have held their current job for fewer than four seasons. Calipari and Mack are in their third season, and Gottfried is in his first.

Notes

The recruiting rankings on this page refer to the Recruiting Services Consensus Index (RSCI), which is a combination of several major recruit services’ rankings. To see the RSCI Top 100 rankings for every class dating back to 1998, visit the website at www.rscihoops.com.

The NBA prospect rankings on this page are from DraftExpress.com (updated March 20). Visit the website for a complete list of prospects, as well as mock drafts for 2012 and 2013.

Injured and ineligible players such as Michigan State’s Branden Dawson and Syracuse’s Fab Melo were not included in these statistics. North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall, who is questionable for the rest of the tournament with an injury, is included.